Ahh, Green Week!
I actually have an interesting build of Tooth and Nail that independently echoes some commentary that I’ve read from players like Antonino DeRosa and giant monsters expert Jeff Garza. For whatever reason, I elected to go a different direction for Green week and learned some surprising things along the way.
Fifty miserable, lousy Blue cards. This probably goes without saying by now, but this is an approximate pick order. More than anything, it’s meant to give you a jumping-off point on power levels and/or usefulness of the Blue cards in the set. Nonetheless, I’d appreciate seeing any disputes, minor or major, in the forums. It’s nice to have one of these lists out there for each color for posterity, and in a few months we can look back and see how foolish we were.
Systems theory is great. The idea that something in a group affects everything is so elegant to me. For example, the butterfly effect on a weather group. Or the metagame. You know, like splash damage. Or in the case of Red decks, splash splash damage. You see, I predict there will be two effective decks at Champs this year: Affinity and Green decks. Affinity is the best, and Green is the obvious foil. Plus it seems everyone loves Sakura-Tribe Elder. So what does that mean for Red?
Another list, another barrage of decisions… we leap through hoops of fire, searching for the golden promise. But sometimes, the massed catalogue of intelligence is too much to bear. We drown in the cards, in the names and the system, floundering for something tangible. I’ve got one more pool for you to peruse this weekend, so follow me and then hop into the forums to chime in with your opinion on this successful experiment.
Many feel that the tournament report as it once existed is dead, but Carl Winter is here to soundly refute that. Even if you aren’t a Vintage fan, Carl’s reports are excellent, amusing reads that are fun for the whole family, though parental guidance is suggested.
For the past year, StarCityGames.com has been aggressively hunting for Alternate Fourth Edition Magic: the Gathering cards. Though what we’ve accumulated isn’t much, we believe that it is one of the largest inventories of Alternate 4th Edition in the world. That inventory is now being offered for sale. If you’re into Magic: the Gathering rarities, this one’s definitely for you!
Interested in learning more about Alternate Fourth Edition? Read on!
Fresh off a twelfth place finish at Grand Prix: Austin, Osyp takes time out of his busy schedule and turns his thoughts back towards Standard for a day to take a look at what Red has to offer players who are participating in Champs. Is Red good enough to compete in a metagame ruled by Affinity and Tooth and Nail? See what Joe Black has to say before you make up your own mind.
This is probably my favorite subject to write on, since I love talking about over and underrated cards and helping people figure out the format. What cards are you overlooking, and which ones should you be drafting higher? The Eisel knows…
Card pool two saw us playing with explosives. There were genuine bombs in a couple of colors, and the debate over the correct build is still going strong. So what does card pool three bring us, I wonder? For a start, it’s bringing me Repetitive Strain Disorder and a hearty hatred of Blue, as I’m sick to death of typing the word “Soratami.” However, I will press on and continue our daily discussion of Limited card valuatino and proper Sealed Builds in the article and particularly in the forums. Follow along, kiddies!
When we talk about Kamigawa instants, we just have to start with Splice. On the surface, it’s a card advantage ability that lets you pay an additional cost when you play a spell to sort of Buyback the Splice spell. This could be problematic, however, when you consider the Sneak Attack problem (see “Six Beginner’s Delusions You Meet in Heaven”) since you have to play a bunch of Arcane spells to make use of Splice. Moreover, last week (see “Championing Kamigawa”), we concluded that the Arcane sorceries aren’t very appealing, with only Lava Spike and Eye of Nowhere priced below three mana.
That said, the biggest lesson I learned from the most recent Waterbury was really something I already knew, but somehow forgot. The larger the Vintage event, the more randomness you’ll encounter. It’s easy, for example, for me to keep tabs on Myriad’s 40-50 player metagame. You have some New Hampshire guys, usually half of the Hadley crowd, some Bostonians, and of course the Mighty-Mighty Maine-tones. You know the decks that people play will be pretty close to the last months, but with all the easy calculations of taking metagame trends into account. Big events like Waterbury are far more different.
Craig continues his quest to get better at Limited Magic and drag the world along with him. He even requests that all of his readers help him out by chiming in with their opinions on his decks and the format in the forums. Here’s what he has to say about today’s card pool: “Card pool one was uninspiring, to say the least. Even the stronger colors were missing key cards in important areas. As we’ll soon discover, card pool two has some powerful spells, but throws up some difficulties of its own.”
How has Champions of Kamigawa enhanced the possibilities of Cowardice? In the opinions of most tournament players, the new block has not in the least changed the viability of Cowardice-based decks. To these unbelievers, to these ultra-orthodox I’d-rather-draft-Shatter-than-Lightning-Coils-types, Cowardice has always been and will always be a junk rare. This, despite my best efforts. Now, I’d be the first to admit that my previous best efforts just weren’t good enough, but unfortunately, an abundance of forum posters have beaten me to it, and all I can do now is concur: This time last year, Cowardice had no place in a non-Friday Night tournament. But today, the world is different.
This week Pip produces the usual numbers, takes a look at the Vintage Watch List, and then riffs about a resurgence of Psychatog decks before analyzing some of the more lamentable decks seen at one of the GenCon Vintage events. If you are looking to stay on top of the Vintage metagame or play in the upcoming StarCityGames.com “Power Nine” tournaments, this article is a must read.
If you haven’t visited the StarCityGames.com Online Store lately, here’s what you’ve been missing…
